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Latin American Real Estate Gold Rush

“I think we saw progress was being made with Macri’s election in 2015 and change was on the horizon,” Equity International Chief Investment Officer Brian Finerty said.

“We think there is more credibility and durability to Macri’s policy.”

Sam Zell’s Argentina Investment

The international business community was not a fan of Argentina for much of the early 2000s due to tight capital flow and currency regulations, but the election of a new president, Mauricio Macri, in 2015 has ushered in an era of economic reform.

It gave Sam Zell’s Equity International the confidence to return to Latin America’s fourth-largest country for the first time since 1999.

Equity International, Goldman Sachs and Centaurus Capital announced in early April a $300M Argentinian real estate deal. The venture includes the roughly 1M SF portfolio acquisition of a Class-A office park, a mall and adjoining land for future development in Buenos Aires. ARG Realty Group is a newly formed entity created at the time of the investment. The real estate management team of South American investment firm Grupo Pegasus was internalized by ARG including Rukan, the developer of the above-mentioned properties. A remaining $75M from the deal will be set aside for future growth.

“I think we saw progress was being made with Macri’s election in 2015 and change was on the horizon,” Equity International Chief Investment Officer Brian Finerty said. “We think there is more credibility and durability to Macri’s policy.”